


A Tale of Eavesdropping and Apples

by ImHalfSickOfShadows



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eavesdropping, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 03:19:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2008965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImHalfSickOfShadows/pseuds/ImHalfSickOfShadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One night Percy went to check on Nico, but when he got to his cabin on the Argo II he heard noises coming from the room. It seemed Nico was crying. But why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tale of Eavesdropping and Apples

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.

Percy didn't know why, but he had the sudden need, a hunch that he should check on Nico. There wasn't any particular danger to worry about, no more than the usual demigod hazards as they were slowly making their way back to New York after successfully stopping Gaea. But when you're a demigod you usually don't ignore such hunches. He was nearing his former cabin –he'd taken to rooming with Annabeth after the son of Hades unexpectedly joined their little expedition – when a noise stopped him.

He stood in the hallway; head tilted to the side to better listen to a potential threat. There it was again. But the sound was so fragile, so hurt it couldn't possibly be dangerous. And it was coming from Nico's room. He tip-toed his way to the threshold of the room currently inhabited by the Ghost King. Sure enough, soft sniffling sounds could be heard through the closed door, just barely, but that did not make them less heart breaking.

Percy stared at the door - not really seeing it - for what felt like a long time, hearing the muffled sobs that made their way through the door. He couldn't understand what made Nico so miserable. After all, they had won. There were casualties, sure, but no one too close to them. Actually, the son of Hades wasn't exactly close to anybody, not since his sister died… the surprising exception, other than Hazel, being Jason (though he  _really_  didn't understand their friendship). Bianca... could he still be that upset about it? No, he'd been forgiven, or so Nico told him... then why was he crying his eyes out, sounding so broken while trying to keep quiet as if he didn't want to bother anyone?

He couldn't take it anymore, listening to his misery. Maybe he could help. But it would do no good to barge in, so he knocked.

"Come in"

Was the surprisingly steady answer, considering what he'd just been listening to. He opened the door slowly, as if afraid to startle the younger demigod. Nico was on the bed, reading a book, looking almost bored while managing an annoyed stare at the interruption. If Percy hadn't been eavesdropping earlier he would have bought this blatant display of cool detachment. But he looked closer and saw the slightly puffed eyes, which were also red rimmed. Yet his face was clear, and his eyes were dry. The son of Hades was stronger than he thought.

He must've been staring for a while, because Nico said in a cold voice:

"May I help you?"

That caught Percy off guard, so his brilliant response was:

"Hmm… how are you doing?"

Nico raised an eyebrow at that, so he rushed to finish his phrase:

"I mean, how's your wound?"

The younger demigod had gotten injured during the final battle. He got cut from his left shoulder to his right hip, while he helped Hazel and his father finish off one of the last giants. He refused to accept any sort of help until Hazel's injuries were taken care of.

"The same. The ambrosia is doing a good enough job of patching me up, I should be completely healed by the time we get to camp. Why do you ask? Are you missing your cabin? I can always move to the medical bay, it's no problem."

He started getting up, slowly due to his injury, but Percy stopped him.

"No! That's not necessary. I'm fine sleeping with Annabeth"

Nico's cheeks colored a bit at that, so he once again tripped over his words trying to correct himself:

"Not like that! I mean I don't mind sharing the cabin with her. Leo made them very spacious. I didn't mean sleeping with Annabeth as in  _sleeping_  with Annabeth, I swear…"

"Percy," Nico interrupted, saving him from embarrassing himself any further "you don't have to explain yourself to me. You are both nearly adults, you may do as you wish. Now was that all?"

Nico's voice had gotten progressively lifeless as their conversation went on. Now he was almost like a robot, no feeling whatsoever. Percy didn't know how he'd react if he'd said he heard someone crying, but he couldn't imagine the reaction to be a good one. He wasn't close enough to the son of Hades for Nico to trust him with his problems. He felt saddened by that. He'd known him for what? Four, five years? And yet he couldn't do something as simple as listening to his problems. He got a brief flashback to ten-year-old Nico, a hyper babbling kid who was all about Mythomagic. He'd lost that happy child, who'd become this sad, defensive, brooding teenager. He felt like it was partly his fault.

"Percy?"

Nico's voice brought him back from his reverie.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a bit. You know, ADHD and all." He laughed weakly to cover his embarrassment.

"Yeah, sure" was the mechanic response "now do you need anything else from me?"

"I want you to tell me what's bothering you" Percy blurted out before he could check himself.

Nico's eyes widened in surprise, briefly, before narrowing in anger. Percy could see he made a bad move. A very, very bad move. So once more he tried to salvage something from the train wreck that was this conversation.

"I'm sorry! It's just that I worry about you, you're like a little brother to me!"

Something flickered across the younger demigod's face – wait, was that sadness? Whatever it was, it seemed to quell his anger. It also seemed to drain some of his energy, making him even paler.

"I'm fine. Really. Thank you for your concern, but everything is fine" his voice shook the tiniest bit on the last word, but Percy pretended not to notice. He'd intruded enough for one evening.

"Ok, then. I'll be here if you need to talk. Good night"

"Sure. Good night".

Percy left the room, shutting the door on his way out. Before he reached his and Annabeth's cabin, though, he could have sworn he heard a muffled sob. He told himself it was his imagination.

* * *

 

It wasn't. His imagination, that is. A few days later, as he was making his way down to wake up Frank to take his turn standing watch, he heard sounds from Nico's room again. He carefully woke up Frank for his shift. The praetor was still drowsy, so he made his way up deck without really registering the soft sobs coming from down the hall. Percy waited for him to disappear to the upper level then tiptoed until he once more stood near his former cabin.

This time it was a bit different. For starters the door was half open, so the noises were easier to hear that night. Second of all, there where hushed voices spilling out of the room. Nico wasn't alone this time. He moved closer to the door, peering through the small opening. He almost gasped in surprise.

Nico, touch-me-and-you-die Nico was curled on Jason Grace's lap, sobbing into his shirt. He had his head buried into the former praetor's chest, his smallish hands gripping the material with fierce strength. His knees were bent, as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Jason was rubbing soothing circles on the Ghost King's back, whispering reassuring things into the smaller teen's hair.

Percy didn't move. All the fatigue he was feeling from staying up so late vanished. It broke his heart to see Nico so distraught, and it hurt his pride to know he was unable to comfort him like Jason was doing. Something else bothered him in that scene: Jason looked like he'd done this a million times, as if this was routine for him. By the Gods, how many times has Nico broken down and sought help from the son of Jupiter?

The time it took for him to wonder all this was the time Nico needed to calm down a bit. Now he and Jason spoke in soft voices that Percy could still hear if he tried (he did.)

"Why do I have to be this way? Why are the Gods so cruel?" Nico said in a tone that was half anger and half hopelessness.

"I already told you, Nico, that there is nothing you can do about it, and that it isn't a problem."

Jason retorted, sounding like he'd have this conversation about a million times too.

"It's not natural!" Nico hissed, like it was something Jason should see since it was so godsdamned obvious!

"Of course it is! There isn't anything wrong with how you feel! And I have told you time and time again, you are  _greek_. Take a look at our mythology and see how much gods, goddesses among other beings don't really care about gender."

"Wait, gender? What were they talking about? Was Nico..." Percy thought from his spot on the door

"They are immortal beings with a ridiculous amount of power. It doesn't matter for them. I may be greek, but I am also a mortal. They may be more accepting of me in this decade than in the 30's, but there is still so much hatred, Jason! I don't think I could handle being treated differently because of it. What would Hazel think? She's from the same time as me! She'll be disgusted! And what about Percy? He'd probably tell Poseidon to drown me or something, or even do it himself!"

"Nico, no one would treat you differently. No one that matters, that is. And you are pretty powerful yourself, so don't underestimate your own abilities. Hazel might need some time to adjust, but she's your sister and she'll love you and support you, no matter what. As for Percy, if he did that well... let's just say he'd be fried on the spot by a very pissed off son of Jupiter if he did anything to hurt you…" Nico laughed a little at that. He had an adorable laugh, Percy randomly thought, pity he didn't do it more often… "…and if he really reacted that way he wouldn't be the guy you've been in love with for the past four years, would he?"

Wait, what?

* * *

 

_A few hours earlier…_

Jason was simply enjoying his dinner that evening, when someone tugged on his sleeve. He swallowed the last bit of pizza he had been chewing and turned to face whoever tried to get his attention. He wasn't really surprised to see Nico there, twisting his hands on his lap underneath the table while looking absolutely normal to the casual glance. Jason frowned at the boy's choice of dinner – half a pomegranate – and then raised an eyebrow in lieu of actually asking out loud what was going on. He was sure the son of Hades would completely shut down if attention was drawn to him.

Jason knew what he was going to ask, but wished that it would be something else. He hated seeing his friends in pain. Nico looked at him with big dark eyes that were already glistening slightly with unshed tears and asked quietly " Will you come to my cabin tonight?" he lowered his gaze, as if ashamed of his request "Sure" was the immediate answer. The fact that Nico trusted him enough to confide in him always made him feel warm, although the boy's pain broke his heart. He knew why he was wanted at the cabin that night, and he mentally sighed as he prepared himself to what he'd have to face later on.

It wasn't an easy task, not at all. He thought back to the very first time Nico broke down in front of him. It had been a couple of days after they left the House of Hades, and he guesses that the younger demigod couldn't really bear seeing Percy and Annabeth act as though they were joined at the hip…

_He was walking to his cabin when a shadow whispered to him (and nearly gave him a heart-attack) and asked him rather politely to come to Nico's room. He shrugged and corrected his course, walking to the pale boy's cabin._

_When he got there the son of the Lord of the Underworld was sitting on his bed, knees tucked under his chin, back against the wall. He quite frankly resembled a cornered animal._

_"What's up?" Jason asked "and by the way, the shadow whisper thing almost…" he didn't finish his sentence, because then Nico had looked up with tear filled eyes and a strangled sob escaped his lips. Nico bit down on them, hard, as if trying to keep the sounds in. He closed his eyes, and tears fell down his face. He was shaking slightly from trying to stop crying, and Jason was completely at a loss. What the heck should he do? He did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to shut the door and then hug the poor boy._

_Nico froze at first, but then relaxed into his touch. He gripped Jason's shirt with so much force he thought it'd tear. Not that it mattered at the moment, not one bit. He pulled the son of Hades onto his lap – and once more Nico tensed, only to sink into the embrace moments later – and rubbed his back gently. He had no idea what he was doing, what he was supposed to do. He let Nico cry himself out on his chest, while he whispered reassurances into his ear._

After that first time Nico tried to apologize a few hundred times, but of course Jason was having none of it. But while they were talking afterwards he'd accidentally said something that displeased the son of Hades, which resulted in a couple of days of silence. Talking to Nico could be complicated sometimes, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. Luckily Jason was a quick learner and soon figured out how to best comfort the pale demigod.

The Ghost King was strong, that was undeniable. He felt weak needing Jason every now and then to hold him while he cried, but it really wasn't that big a deal for the son of Jupiter. It wasn't as if Nico broke down every other day, or frequently at all. And the reasons for his sorrow weren't solely his unrequited love for the son of Poseidon. He wept for his mother, whom he doesn't remember that well (getting dunked in the Lethe will do that to you); for his deceased sister (Jason is slowly piecing together who she was); for his lost childhood and for his internal conflict regarding his sexual inclinations. Despite not really remembering the 1930's, Nico seemed to have retained a few of the customs and beliefs of his time period. One of them being the "homosexuality is unnatural and a sin" bit. So Jason always waited until Nico could tell him what was he upset about, and then they'd go from there.

So later that night he told Piper he was going to talk to Nico a bit and left their cabin. Piper was a wonderful person, and didn't mind Jason spending a few evenings with the son of Hades. She knew that the nights Jason was away, were the nights followed by mornings in which Nico would show up for breakfast with slightly puffy eyes (only noticeable for those looking for it) but seemingly less burdened than the day before.

He reached Nico's cabin, knocked and went in. The younger demigod was sitting on his bed, wearing a look that begged Jason to hug him. So he did. It didn't take long for the tears to come, and the son of Jupiter whispered soothing words into the smaller boy's hair.

After a few minutes, Nico had calmed down some –but was still crying - and could tell Jason what was bothering him this particular day. It seemed he was upset over Percy, because the idiot not only had almost caught him crying – "Why didn't you call me?" Jason protested. Nico merely rolled his eyes and continued – but told him he was like a little brother to the son of Poseidon. Jason actually winced at that. It had to hurt.

He managed to get Nico to stop crying after a while – even made him laugh! – and they kept talking a bit about everything and anything, just enjoying each other's company now that no one was sobbing their heart out. When Nico yawned so wide Jason could've counted his teeth, he called it a night and went to bed.

* * *

 

After he eavesdropped on Jason and Nico talking about the latter being in love with him, Percy was struck dumb. Well, dumber. It seemed like that was just one surprise too many for him to take in one night, and his brain cells were scrambling to make sense of everything he had just seen and heard.

He went back to his and Annabeth's room and tried to organize how he felt about it.

The following morning he had decided what to do: Absolutely nothing. Really, a flying warship was hardly the appropriate place to confront Nico about this. He'd most likely shadow-travel away (making his injury worsen) and never talk to Percy again. Apparently the boy had some serious issues regarding his sexuality, and would be mortified to know that Percy knew, since he seemed to be expecting a really bad reaction from the son of Poseidon. Which he found kind of offensive, to be honest. So he was going to do nothing and pretend like he didn't know a thing.

* * *

 

Nico sighed, once more. They had just gotten back from defeating Gaea and, of course, a huge celebration was in order. He didn't want to be there. He disliked big crowds, particularly if it was made up mostly of demigods that were uneasy around him – and bad at hiding it.

He thought things would have gotten better after the war, since he helped save the camp from the Roman invasion and all, but it seemed to have gotten worse. You see, after he, Reyna and Coach Hedge brought the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half Blood and managed to knock some sense into Octavian thus stopping the war between the camps, they were attacked by Gaea's forces. The only good thing about the feud between Greeks and Romans was that everyone was battle ready. So they fought. And Nico wanted desperately for it to end quickly so he could go back to the Argo, because he couldn't bear the thought of his sister facing what waited for the Seven in Greece by herself. And ok,  _maybe_ he was worried about Percy's wellbeing too. So maybe he overdid it a tiny bit. Maybe he summoned a legion of the undead so fearsome it scared (and scarred) some of the campers. Ungrateful people are the worst. His soldiers kept casualties to a minimum! The point is, he was even more of an outcast in that godsforsaken camp.

Why was he in the damn celebration then? Well, the blame goes to that pesky son of Jupiter that wouldn't allow Nico to go to his cabin and sleep. The blonde demigod would glance his way every now and then, checking if he hadn't "accidentally" killed anyone.

There was someone else who kept staring at him, but this one looked away when Nico met his gaze: Percy. The son of Poseidon had been caught staring at the brooding teen more times that could be considered normal or accidental. The son of Hades immediately suppressed the embarrassingly hopeful thoughts that popped up at the realization. He also furiously tried to avoid blushing every time his gaze met sea-green eyes. It was probably nothing. Maybe he was acting weirder than usual. Yes, that was his explanation and he  _totally_ believed it.

* * *

 

Percy tried to stop staring at Nico, but it was hard. No, he hadn't suddenly fallen in love with the son of Hades, it doesn't happen that way. But ever since he found out about Nico's feelings, things changed.

First of all, a lot of the things Nico did/does made perfect sense. And that made him feel bad. Like, really bad. He thought back to all of his interactions with the younger boy, and he could almost feel the hurt he caused by being careless about his words and actions. Percy felt he finally understood the smaller demigod a bit better.

Second of all, he caught himself starting to actually notice Nico. His appearance, his voice his (rare) smiles. And once more, his laugh: it really was a beautiful sound. It seemed as though now that he knew of the other's interest in him, he caught himself thinking about how they'd be together. And that train of thought startled him. He was happily in love with Annabeth, wasn't he? Well, after all the thinking he'd been doing, he realized a few traits of their relationship that bothered him, like Annabeth constantly underestimating his intelligence, or her bossiness. And other things that just weren't the same… he used to think Annabeth's laugh was gorgeous, just like her. Now he found it slightly annoying. He used to love to play with her golden curls, now he thought they got in the way, and even started thinking short hair would be so much better. And the list went on and on.

He still loved Annabeth, he realized, but he wasn't  _in love_  with her anymore. They'd grown apart. He decided he had to end it. Their relationship felt strained, and if they insisted on it maybe their friendship would be destroyed as time went on. He looked around, and saw that he had spaced out for quite a bit, and almost everyone had already gone to bed. He looked for Annabeth and found her talking to a tall Apollo camper. He knew he was doing the right thing when he didn't feel his stomach twist in jealousy. He touched her shoulder lightly.

"Annabeth, would you come with me for a bit?" his voice sounded weird even to him, and the daughter of Athena, sharp as always, picked up on it. "Sure!" she said. She said goodbye to the Apollo camper and followed him.

Percy went to the place he always felt at peace, the lake. He sat on the sand and patted the spot beside him silently asking her to join him. She did.

"Percy, what is going on? You were distracted the whole night, and that has been going on for the last few weeks…" Annabeth started, in a quiet voice.

"Annabeth, I don't think we are working anymore" Percy said softly, looking into her grey eyes.

She nodded, as if she was waiting for this. She probably was, given her brilliant mind.

"So you felt it too?" she inquired.

It was Percy's turn to nod "After Tartarus we haven't been the same… We grew apart. We stuck together to try to keep the nightmares at bay, but…" he hesitated "But being together is actually making them worse, isn't it?" Annabeth finished for him. He once more nodded in agreement.

"I think so too" she whispered, her voice showing the signs she was starting to cry "but I don't want to lose you!"

"You won't!" Percy was fast to reassure her, his voice wavering a bit with his own sorrow "we can still be friends. Not right now, we need time apart to heal and move on, but later. I promise. Annabeth, I still love you, I think I always will…"

"But you aren't in love with me anymore" she once more finished his sentence, her voice strained "I feel the same way, Percy. And I promise we'll be friends after we get passed this, ok?" Her voice cracked and she started crying. Percy felt his own tears falling, and he reached out and enveloped her in a hug. They sat like that for quite some time, until they had calmed down. They parted their ways and went into their respective cabins.

* * *

 

It was two weeks after The Breakup. Nico felt it needed capital letters since everyone was making such a big deal out of it. It was both incredible and pathetic the impact it had on the camp (the Aphrodite cabin was inconsolable). They said it was mutual, but by no means had it meant they were out frolicking in the strawberry fields. In fact, Annabeth had left that morning for New Rome to study their architecture (with the bonus of gaining some peace of mind). Percy stayed. But he continued to do what they former couple had done for the last fortnight: sulk in his cabin only showing up for meals.

It was understandable; they were both shaken by the ending of their relationship. But it hurt to see the previously happy son of Poseidon seem so… lifeless. Nico hadn't been overjoyed when he heard the Golden Couple was no more. He felt genuine concern about the wellbeing of both Percy and Annabeth. His concern for the blonde surprised him a bit. He had tried hating her, but he never could. After all, she did nothing wrong, and never mistreated him. And since she never knew of his feelings for her boyfriend, he really couldn't accuse her of intentionaly "rubbing it in" or anything of the sort. He could not resent her, and if he was a bit less jealous (or a bit more of a masochist) he would've been friends with her. So he worried about both of them but did nothing about it. He watched from afar, like he always did.

* * *

 

Two months after Annabeth had left for New Rome Percy was on the arena, challenging a particularly burly Ares camper just for the hell of it. His skin was regaining is tan and his eyes were sparkling again. He laughed as he dodged an attack, feeling truly happy for the first time in a while. He won the fight (surprise, surprise) and went to the showers.

He sighed as the water hit him, he always felt more refreshed in his element. As he washed, he left his thoughts wander.

His mind drifted to Annabeth. They were both doing well, and had started talking a couple of weeks back. He felt good about keeping his promise of staying friends with her. It seemed like they had both moved on. She even told him, blushing profusely, that she had gone out on a date with the Apollo camper she had been talking with the night of their break up. He smiled. The fact that he actually felt happy for her budding new relationship with Keith – that was his name – proved to him he was truly well.

Then he began thinking about Nico. It seemed like Jason had convinced him to stay in camp. Their friendship had benefitted the son of Hades immensely; he had gotten his darker skin tone back, and had filled out due to constant training and hearty meals. Hazel visited him on Arion quite often, and always made sure he was taking care of himself. Nico seemed happier, and he was downright breathtaking now that he was healthy again.

Percy had asked himself if he actually found Nico attractive. The answer was an enthusiastic "yes!". Well then. He asked himself if he actually had feelings for Nico, romantic feelings. Once more the answer that came was positive. It slowly built up, evolving from noticing until genuine affection of the non-brotherly type was formed. He wanted to make sure that it was what he wanted, because he could never forgive himself if he wound up hurting the younger demigod. He didn't want to just use him as an experiment out of idle curiosity, that'd be utterly cruel, especially since he knew of the other boy's feelings.

So he made up his mind, and he was going to confront Nico today. Why today in particular? Well, yesterday most campers left for their mortal homes, so camp was almost empty. He had asked Jason earlier that week when Nico was going to leave camp (he disliked staying in camp without people he knew) and the blonde told him Nico was leaving on Saturday. So, tomorrow. The bright side was if he completely blew it the awkwardness would be limited to a day at most.

He exited the shower and made his way to the pavilion for lunch. He barely ate anything, his stomach was twisting in anxiety. What if Nico didn't like him anymore? What if he thought I'm mocking him or something? What if he gets angry? And so on. After he finished his "meal", he went over to the Hades table, were Nico was also leaving his table.

"Hey, Nico?" Percy called hesitantly

"Yes?" was the answer accompanied of a raised eyebrow

"Could I talk to you? In private?" Nico's eyebrow rose a tad bit more.

"Sure. Let me just get some dessert" they made their way to the table and Nico picked out an apple. Percy picked one too, just to have something to do while Nico ate. They offered half of it to their respective godly parent and left the pavilion, munching on the sweet fruit.

Percy led them to the lake. He couldn't help it, the lake was the place he felt most at peace. And gods did he need it now. The shore was empty, as was expected. Percy decided not to go sit on the sand, for two reasons. One, they'd get sand everywhere. Two, it reminded him too much of his breakup. So he settled for being at the very end of the forest, where there was soft grass that went on for a couple more feet before dying out and giving way to the sand of the beach. But Percy could still see the lake, and feel the breeze. That was enough to calm him a bit.

Nico leaned against a rock, looking up at Percy expectantly. They had both finished eating, so there were no excuses he could use to not speak right that moment.

So Percy began.

"You see, a few weeks ago, when we were on the Argo still, I heard something…"

Nico paled, and swallowed thickly. But he didn't interrupt.

"I went to check it out, and it was coming from your room. The door was open, and I saw you… and Jason. I'm sorry I eavesdropped, but I heard him saying that you are, and have been for a while, in love with me. Is it still true?"

By this point, the grass around them began to wilt, and Nico looked positively terrified. Percy mentally congratulated himself on picking a place where they weren't near any shadows, given that it was just past noon. Nico wasn't going to shadow travel away from this.

"I'm sorry" was the strangled answer "I'm so, so sorry. I never meant for you to find out, and I'm going to get over it, I promise, I just need some more time…" he was shaking a bit, his eyes were shiny and his lower lip was quivering.

"Nico, stop" Percy began, gently "I'm not angry, upset or any negative thing you seem to be thinking. There's absolutely nothing you need to apologize for. It's just that finding that out made me think, and now I think I am ready to admit that I may…have feelings for you too"

That seemed to shock Nico into silence.

"You…like me?" was the unbelieving reply

"I'm pretty sure, yeah."

More silence.

Percy could hear his heart pounding in his ears, could feel his palms sweating.

"Nico, if you want to tell me to get lost, I understand, but please dismiss me quickly so I can sulk in the privacy of my cabin" Percy said with a defeated tone.

"No!" Nico sounded slightly panicked "That's not it! It's just hard to believe… the fact that not only you aren't straight but seem to like me is a lot to take in. And I swear, if this is your idea of a joke, I will open a chasm to send you straight to my father and have him show you the Fields of Punishment" his voice hardened towards the end.

"Not at all. I am not that cruel Nico. It took me this long to say something because I wanted to be sure of my feelings. Also I had to get over my breakup"

Nico had a glimmer of hope shining in his beautiful eyes. Percy took that as a sign that Nico was ok with what was going on. So he leaned forward and joined their lips. The son of Hades sighed into the kiss and responded eagerly. Percy's hands went around Nico's waist like they had always belonged there. Nico's hands clasped together on the back of Percy's neck, but he seemed at a loss as to what else to do, apparently unexperienced. Percy thought briefly that this might be his first kiss. The thought made him fell giddy, and oddly proud.

They broke apart and smiled at each other. Percy thought he had seen Nico smile before, but those smiles had nothing on this one. Nico was positively beaming, and it made his heart sing at the sight.

"So you are ok with this?" Percy asked, not wanting to make the other demigod uncomfortable in any way.

In lieu of answering, Nico joined their lips again. One of Percy's hands cradled the younger demigod's face and deepened their kiss. He tasted of apples, and Percy thought that apples just might be his favorite fruit from now on.  

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N] Hello!
> 
> Well, this was my first fanfic, so constructive criticism is more than welcome. Also, English is not my native language, so please tell me if you spot any typos or grammar mistakes! Thanks for reading!


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